Ferrari dice: $105 at the Ferrari Store
I’ll have to dig up the press kit to double check but I seem to recall that more than a dozen years ago, Puma and Fila were already selling about $250 million a year worth of Ferrari branded shoes and apparel. While a lot of people mocked Cadillac brand-strategy-whatever Melody Lee for her recent comments about turning Cadillac into a luxury brand, not just a seller of cars, licensing deals and brand extensions like the Porsche Design retail shops are now big business in the car biz.
My guess is that FCA uses the same supplier for Maserati dice.
License Global magazine says that Ferrari’s 68 licensing deals now generate $2.6 billion a year in merchandise sales. Those who mocked Ms. Lee might be surprised that her employer, General Motors, is actually the most successful car company in the world at generating revenue from loaning out their brand names, logos and other intellectual property, with $3.5 billion in sales of licensed merchandise ranging from reproduction trim parts to scale models to guitars. While the terms of those deals are not necessarily public, royalties on licensed merchandise are typically 7-12% of the wholesale price. You can find out about Ferrari dice and Hummer cologne (it helps GM keep the trademark active, even if they killed the automotive brand) in a pretty extensive article by Rebecca Ruiz over at the New York Times.
I dunno…judging from those two pictures, it seems the pitchfork dice have deeper indents and more rounded corners than the horsey dice.
Merchandising is always the answer, may the Schwartz be with you
L2M,
Sure, but if you really want the big bucks, you want FAO Schwartz to be selling your stuff.
Forget the Cologne, I want Hummer the Flamethrower!
I’m sorry we’re all out of Hummer flamethrowers, can I interest you in a Hummer hand grenade?
http://trailerpartstogo.com/images/products/detail/H2PPC05109.jpg
In the end, it is about the desirability of those products and the money and exposure gained by the company. Cadillac does not have the brand energy in my opinion. A tote bag, yes, but not items with higher exclusivity. I do get the concept overall, and I am fully aware of the presence and reach of merchandising. I was involved with RLL racing and saw more Puma/BMW merchandise than I can remember and I have many of those items.
As I sit here drinking espresso in my Ferrari branded espresso cups my wife bought me in Rome. :)
For the woman in your life…
http://www.clcpotomacregion.org/images/Merchandise%20For%20Sale/CadillacBag1_small.JPG
… she’ll never forget you for it
At least it has the proper logo
I think I saw that bag on the ghettofab Tumblr feed.
Holy yeezus that’s tacky.
You just hurt Melody Lee’s feelings, hope your happy with yourself
These bags are GM licensed:
http://www.mezonhandbags.com/g86333mu-original-cadillac-carry-on-handbag.html
http://www.mezonhandbags.com/cadillac-fur-tote-bag.html
Of all the things one could buy in Rome, Ferrari-branded espresso cups lurk near the nadir, slightly above those depressing plastic ‘toys’ sold near the fountains and piazzas by swarthy immigrant gangs.
My wife bought them and I agree. You can probably buy the same exact thing on Amazon after all. What was I going to say? It was the one time of a few I didn’t go with her. Don’t tell her, but I never use them. lol.
I won’t, thanks for the laugh!
There’s an art to gift giving. You have to know something about the recipient but also about the things the recipient likes.
Let’s say that you’re a big fan of Michael Bloomfield and have a decent collection of his recordings. If a friend knew this and gave you a copy of the first Butterfield Blues Band album, you’d graciously thank them and then put it next to your other copy(ies) of that recording. However, if you tracked down the original vinyl Guitar Player Records release of Bloomfield’s instructional If You Love These Blues Play ‘Em As You Please, complete with Bloomfield’s playing notes that are not available with the CD reissue of that album, that would make your friend love you forever.
No, Jack, you can’t have my copy, though I will bring it with me the next time I visit lovely Powell, OH, and you can play it on your turntable.
Absolutely, which is why ever year, I create a Christmas wish list on Amazon, and send it to my family. It is asking too much for them to know the fine details of what is a good gift in our area of interest; much less know the exact items I would like for my collection.
My espresso cups are New Jersey espresso cups I bought in the service areas along the NJtpk. They are very exclusive, because they aren’t made anymore, and the really nice ones haven’t been made for around 2 decades.
At the beginning of December, my wife hit a deer and totaled her car. That weekend, circa 12/10, we bought her a new Acura to replace it.
In order to remind her of the enormity of that purchase, and its associated effects on our Christmas shopping budget, she got two Official Acura Keychains ($2.99ea) and an official Acura Stainless Steel Tumbler [water bottle] ($16.99) with her other Christmas presents. All dutifully purchased from merchandise.Acura.com or some such site. No additional prestige implied or conferred with that purchase.
That is hilarious. Don’t forget the his-and-hers T-shirts!
Laugh all you want. I’ll counter with two words: Harley. Davidson.
For at least the past twenty years, the clothing side of your local Harley-Davidson dealership has been more profitable than the motorcycle side. At some dealerships, the clothing side out profits the sales, service and parts sides combined.
It’s been mentioned at times that the only reason Harley-Davidson keeps making motorcycles is to not kill off the t-shirt business.
Cadillac should dream of having that kind of brand recognition and products sales.
She paid for that, that sucks. I owned an Acura years ago and they gave me a stainless steel coffee tumbler, a t-shirt, 2 nice luxury pens and a stainless steel keychain. I still have all of them, thought that was a nice gesture on their part.
“She paid for that, that sucks.”
She got enough other presents that it didn’t hurt her too badly, don’t worry.
The accessories sold at the dealer are one thing, but to be able to sell licensed products the way Ferrari and Porsche do, you have to have very desirable and prestigious cars. A Cadillac right now is not such a vehicle. Putting the Cadillac name on a laptop isn’t going to sell laptops the way the the prancing horse sells high end Acers.
Maybe not, but that Cadillac badge just might give a no-name Chinese manufacturer a chance at a shelf space in Kmart right next to that Kodak branded smartphone.
As an aside I saw hundreds of these (http://charinko.jp/?pid=2016980) in Tokyo suburbs, while an actual GM automobile was rarer than a Godzilla sighting.
I’m not sure some Chinese goods on a K-Mart shelf are what Miss Lee was thinking with this whole luxury brand thing.
I’d love to import a couple, to add to my collection of folders.
It’s amazing some of the ways you an get H. sapiens to part with their money.
I’d buy a Volvo smartphone if they ever sold them!
Generally if someone is wearing branded automobile gear, especially Ferrari, they almost never own a vehicle from that company. I was just down in Miami Beach a couple of weeks ago and a guy at the restaurant I was at was wearing a Bentley Breitling watch and he actually drove a Bentley which is extremely rare. I remember years and years ago one of my neighbors bought a bunch of Cadillacs at one time and they gave him a Cadillac mountain bike, it actually did not look too bad although if you go into a Cadillac dealership you would never know they sold merchandise. Now BMW in Plano, TX, they do a fantastic job of showcasing their BMW merchandise.
Bentley Breitling is a different story, since the type of person that’s willing to part with $10k on a (extremely tacky) watch probably actually income level to afford a Bentley. It says nothing about their level of taste though.
I was given a (real licensed) Ferrari backpack a few years ago. Not actually owning a car from them, I was slightly intimidated by it and only used it for trips where I wouldn’t be seen by too many people.
I had the car problem fixed last year.
On a tangent, I also got a Porsche Design backpack from my parents when I still had my Cayman. They are hellishly expensive, but as a layman I was blown away by the apparent quality of materials and construction. The zippers are exquisite and heavy. Nothing is sloppy, not even the interior sewed pockets.
About the only Harley Davidson branded merchandise you can’t find is condoms. Good thing since everything they make leaks from the factory!!!!
40 years ago, yeah. Today, well it’s obvious you haven’t looked at a Harley in a few years. Today’s bikes can basically be called a V-twin BMW. My ’88 FRX is pure stone age along side them. It doesn’t leak oil, and neither do the current models.
Why only 6 sides?
$105 for a pair of dice made in China?! pffft..All Mercedes came with Free tools …and if you think that is trite,look on ebay to see what a set of used 190SL tools brings these days…and then there is matching luggage at $20,000 a set.I don’t see Ferrari dice ever accumulating value like that.
As for Porches stuff, One of my cousins worked for the design firm for close to 25 years and often looks on ebay for stuff they designed…but sold under different manufacturers name. He is building quite a collection of Porsche Design goodies in his office…LOL!.
They came with tools out of necessity. Cars weren’t nearly as reliable per mile “back in the day” and required more frequent maintenace. Heck, today’s drive belts last longer than the 190SL and other cars of its day.
Nevertheless, BMW was providing trunk tool kits in North America as late as 2006 with the E46.
How much of that is Caddy merchandise?
If you count businesses like HSV which sells an extraordinary amount of merchandise in Australia I can believe that GM makes a lot.
Don’t forget merchandise can be sanctioned aftermarket accessories.
I can see it now.
Cadillac’s own Andy Warhol prints and “Greatest Hit from the Kinks selected by Cadillac”.
You can have Cadillac branded Wheel Braces and Cadillac cotton gloves when you get a flat.
Or go to your nearest dealer and buy a Cadillac battery for your Ford and get a free Caddy baseball cap with every battery.
Nearly forgot,
When you buy your Escalade you get a free Silverado tee shirt to remind you of the origins of your Caddy.
I’d think Cadillac would sell livery driver uniforms.
The only time you see them where I live is when they’re doing airport taxi duty. Usually XTS these days. Sometimes I wonder if that’s a huge part of their image problem in upscale neighborhoods. Hey, look at me, I’m successful, I dared greatly, I bought a taxi.
I used to have a Hummer and a Jeep brand bicycle, they were decent bikes.
I have the Tesla leather duffel bag. It’s actually really nice and only slightly ridiculously expensive.